E.on's Gamesa offshore turbine plans put back

GERMANY: E.on has insisted it still plans to acquire one of Gamesa's G11X-5.0MW offshore turbines for testing although it will not be installing it this year as planned.

In February last year, Gamesa and E.on agreed to collaborate on the development of the G11X. In a statement, the turbine manufacturer said it had "signed an agreement to supply E.on with an offshore prototype of its G11X-5MW platform in 2012."

However, E.on said it would not be making an announcement on the turbine until later in the year. A spokesman added: "We haven't made a decision on where and when we are going to deploy it."

Questioned whether the arrangement was still going ahead, a Gamesa spokeswoman said: "We are working with E.on to define the best option for collaboration in the installation of a prototype."

Until recently, the G11X was being developed at Gamesa's R&D facility at Virginia, US. Shortly before the prototype was due to be commissioned, Gamesa announced it was moving the turbine to the Canary Islands.

It had been thought the turbine would be installed at one of E.on's offshore projects in the North Sea, such as Humber Gateway or Amrumbank West in the German North Sea.

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